Category Archives: Winter Park

Winter Park Ospreys – April 8, 2024

April 12, 2024Winter Parkbirds, chick, nest, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

I’m not sure how long the Ospreys have been nesting in downtown Winter Park. I first wrote about them in this post in 2018, and again in 2019 and 2020. Although I didn’t blog about it every time, I checked on them each spring and have a collection of their photos over the years in this album on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72177720316160870/with/40996944555/.

It’s that time of year again. I had an errand over in Maitland and stopped by the nest last Monday. They look like they’re doing well. I only saw one chick (which I’d guess was about a week old). I’ve read that one egg can hatch early and be followed by others later, so maybe this one will have some siblings.

Here are a few photos:

Dad watching the nest while Mom takes a break.

Mom, Dad, and chick.

Mom feeding fresh fish to her chick.

Mom and chick – looking for Dad to come back with more fish.

I enjoy following this nest each year. The setting is ideal for photographs: You can get relatively close but not stress the birds. And I like seeing these wild creatures thrive in the middle of all us humans.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, check on some of your wild neighbors. And make some photos!

Busy Birds

April 24, 2022Daytona, INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Apopka, Winter ParkAnhinga, birds, Great Blue Heron, nest, Osprey, wildlife, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, youngEd Rosack

Very busy birds! And in a lot of different places!

Seems like the nesting season is going full blast. I’ve been seeing them everywhere I go. Lake Apopka, Winter Park, Holly Hill, and Ormond Beach. Here are a few photos. The first two are from a Lake Apopka trip a few weeks ago :

Lake Apopka Nesting Tree (near the pump house). I could see four or five nests in this tree: Two Anhinga, a Cormorant and a Great Blue Heron. There’s also a Common Gallinule perched (or nesting?) in the lower left.

A close up of the Great Blue Heron nest in that tree. Some feathers sticking up from the bottom might be a small chick.

This next photo is from the Winter Park Osprey nest. I’ve checked on it several times this year and although it seems active, I haven’t been able to spot any eggs or chicks yet.

Winter Park Ospreys: As of the afternoon of 4/19. I couldn’t see any sign of eggs or chicks in this nest. I’m going to try to go by again next week.

My friend Robert Wilson offered to show me one of his local spots: Centennial Park in Holly Hill. We went by last Monday and there was a lot of activity there too.

This Centennial Park Osprey was gathering nesting material.

Another nesting tree (Centennial Park). This one has five active nests: One Anhinga and four Great Blue Heron. These chicks are getting quite mature, with some already fledging.

Here’s a close up of the Anhiga nest in the tree above. Dad is feeding his very hungry youngster.

This nest in a close by tree is still under construction. The male just passed his mate a new stick to add.

And finally, Robert and I stopped by another spot up in Ormond Beach where he knew of a nesting Yellow-crowned Night Heron. It was hard to get a good photo, but it was exciting to see. These birds are a rare sight for me and to spot one in the nest was a treat!

A Yellow-crowned Night Heron playing peek-a-boo from its nest in Ormond Beach.

You can click on any of these images to see higher resolution versions on Flickr.

It always amazes me what nature shows us if we go out and look. I wonder if you have some near by places like this where you could see some busy birds. We won’t know if you don’t go!

Thank you for reading my blog. Your visits, comments, and likes are always welcome and a big motivator for me. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, wander a bit out in nature – and make some photos while you’re there!

Mead Gardens (3-29-22)

April 17, 2022Mead Gardensbirds, Great Crested Flycatcher, landscape, RabbitEd Rosack

After my Stroll in the Dark through downtown Winter Park, I stopped at the close by Mead Botanical Gardens for a second leisurely walk. It’s a 47 acre natural habitat preserve that’s popular with local birders and a relaxing place to wander. This Marsh Rabbit helped me out with an image to post on Easter:

An Easter Bunny

And this pond always makes for a nice photo:

Pretty light on a placid pond

Mead Gardens is popular birding spot especially during migration. As I walked, I was trying in vain to let my nascent birding skills expose themselves. But then I heard an unfamiliar call…

When I took out my phone and tried sound ID on the Merlin Bird ID app, it said it was a Great Crested Flycatcher. I’d only seen one once before when Kevin M. pointed it out to me at Lake Apopka. The call was very distinctive and loud, so I used it to look for the bird. This one partially hidden and way up in a tree top seemed to be the one making the call:

Certainly not my best photo ever, but an exciting find! And a great demo of how the awesome Merlin app amplifies even my birding knowledge. If you haven’t tried it yet, do so – it’s a free app.

You can look through my (sparse) posts about Mead Gardens at this link: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/winter-park/mead-gardens/. And I’ve collected Mead Gardens photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157633035986416.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! Your visits, comments, and likes are always welcome and a big motivator for me. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, wander a bit out in nature – and make some photos!

A Stroll in the Dark

April 10, 2022Technique, Winter Parkblack and white, buildings, Flowers, long exposure, streetEd Rosack

I wanted to check on the Osprey nest in downtown Winter Park, Florida. I decided to leave (very) early so I could also make some night time / low light photos in the area. I’ve done that before (see: /https://edrosack.com/2015/10/03/winter-park-at-night/). Here are a few of the results from this time.

Colony Theater Building

The Colony Theater on Park Avenue in Winter Park Florida first opened in 1940. Matinees during WW II cost 39 cents. The theater closed in 1975 and was converted to retail space (see winterparkmag.com/history/). It’s still photogenic. This is a single frame (ISO 100, 26mm, f/8 @ 3.2 sec.)

Bright blooms at night

When I saw that planter in full bloom in front of an interesting building across the street, I knew I had to make a photo. But I wanted everything in focus and both the flowers and the building / lights well exposed. I made three frames: one focused and exposed for the flowers (ISO 100, 35mm, f/8 @ 20 sec.) and two more focused on the building (ISO 100, 35mm, f/8 @ 10 sec. and 4 sec). I did an HDR blend of the building exposures in Lightroom, and loaded the result along with the flower exposure into separate Photoshop layers. There, I aligned and masked the sharp flowers into the building layer. It took a few minutes, but I like the result.

Almost empty

This one is a three frame exposure bracket (ISO 100, 24mm, f/8 @ 4, 10, and 20 sec.). I first called it “Empty street”, but then noticed the three ghostly figures and changed the title. The header image in this web post is an enlargement of the center.

Very early train

I set up and made a test shot while I waited for a train to come through (ISO 100, 53mm, f/7.1 @ 25 sec.). I wanted a long exposure to show a lengthy train streak. When I looked at the image later on my computer, I didn’t like the way the train headlight changed the lighting on the trees, so I ended up using the test frame as the base image and blending in the train streak from the other frame. I’m glad I had that test shot to use!

Anyway, I like how these turned out and I thought maybe you’d be interested in a brief overview of how I made them. And by the way, Momma Osprey was on the nest but I don’t think any chicks have hatched yet. I’ll try to go back and get some photos of them.

You can review my other posts about Winter Park here: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/winter-park/. And you can view other photos from there in this album on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157636838442164/with/10424895284/.

Thank you very much for stopping by my blog! Your visits, comments, and likes are always welcome and a big motivator for me. Stay positive, be kind, take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can, make some photos!

Another baby bird update

May 23, 2020Downtown Orlando, Orlando Wetlands, Winter Parkbaby, birds, Black Crowned Night Heron, black-necked stilts, chick, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis, Mottled Duck, Mute Swan, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

It’s still baby bird season here in Central Florida. I thought I’d update you on several I’ve been following.

Lake Cherokee Mute Swans

As of May 23rd, there are three surviving cygnets at Lake Cherokee (this photo is from May 17th). On April 25th, I counted 6.

Lake Davis Mute Swans

There are only two cygnets left at Lake Davis (this photo is from May 17th too). On April 25th, there were 5. They seem a little bit larger / older to me than the ones at Lake Cherokee.

There’s a lot of wildlife in and around Lake Davis and Lake Cherokee. One neighbor’s seen owls, hawks, eagles and otters there and it wouldn’t be surprising if there are alligators too. Life for these young swans is dangerous.

All of the remaining ones seem to be healthy and growing. Hopefully they’re big enough now to avoid any more predation.

Winter Park Ospreys

Wing exercise – These two chicks are still in this nest. In this photo (also from May 17th) Mom and sibling duck out of the way as the other one exercises its wings.

They’re growing fast and getting stronger. I don’t think it’ll be too long before they fledge.

Bonus baby birds

Here are a few other young birds I’ve seen in the last week. These are from a stroll at Orlando Wetlands Park.

Black-necked Stilts: Mom and chick

A young Night Heron in flight. I think this one is a Black-crowned Night Heron. They’re much more common around here than the Yellow-crowned ones.

Family cruise – Mottled Duck Mom and ducklings

Okay – that’s all of the baby bird news I have. Now for a more serious subject.

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Memorial Day

Here In the US, we celebrate Memorial Day on the last Monday in May (the 25th). It’s a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy. Every one of us owes them a debt we can never repay.

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Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. Hang in there, stay safe, and take care of yourselves and your loved ones. And if you can – make some photos!

Baby Bird Brief

April 25, 2020Orlando, Winter Parkbaby, birds, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis, Mute Swan, nest, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

Lynn and I dropped off some things today at MK’s place. On the way home we checked on the Lake Cherokee and Lake Davis swans and then went by Winter Park to see how the Ospreys are doing.

Lake Cherokee Mute Swan and cygnets

The swans at Lake Cherokee seem to be fine. But last time I counted 6 cygnets and today I only saw 5. I hope one was hidden in the grass or behind the tree on the right.

Lake Davis Mute Swan and Cygnets

The Lake Davis swans seem fine too and I counted 5 cygnets there, same as our last visit. If you’d like to see a few more photos of these birds, one of my Flickr friends (Kathy B.) posted a few in her Flickr photo stream.

We only saw one very small chick in the Winter Park Osprey nest two weeks ago. It turns out it was the only one poking its head up at the time – there were two more hidden in the nest. This visit we saw all three and they’re much larger already. All the hungry babies were loudly begging for food and Momma was busy feeding them pieces of very fresh fish.

Momma Osprey feeding her three chicks

As we were getting ready to leave, Lynn asked if I’d made a video. And of course I hadn’t remembered to, so I went back and recorded a little bit. Thanks Lynn! The chicks in this remind me of mini dinosaurs.

Mary D. posted a comment on the last Osprey post. She saw a worker up there and hoped he was placing a wildlife camera. I looked and couldn’t see any sign of one.

You can read other blog posts about Lake Cherokee and Lake Davis at this link: https://edrosack.com/?s=lake+cherokee. And here are some more about Ospreys and Winter Park: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/winter-park/

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I hope all of you are staying healthy and safe out there in pandemic land. Take care of each other and if you can, make some photos!

Winter Park Osprey Nest

April 11, 2020Winter Parkbirds, chick, nest, wildlifeEd Rosack

Lynn and I had to mail a package yesterday and stopped by this nest box near the Winter Park Post Office to check on the Osprey family.

Urban Osprey Nest

They look like they’re doing fine. Click on this photo to see it larger on Flickr and you can spot one chick’s head just in front of Mom.

This was a good social distancing spot – no one else was there. We might try to check on it again when the chicks get a little bigger.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay safe out there and take care of yourselves, your friends, and your families. And if you can, make some photos!

Winter Park Ospreys

April 28, 2019Winter Parkbirds, Fish, Osprey, wildlifeEd Rosack

This Osprey family is doing well in tony downtown Winter Park – living in their very own, rent free high-rise. Dad is an awesome fisherman – he brought back 3 during the short time I watched.

Dad, landing with a fresh meal for Mom and chick

Mom seems experienced and devoted to the chick, shading it from the hot sun and feeding it small bites of Dad’s catch.

Mom feeding chick

I first wrote about this same nest about a year ago. Please click below to read the older post.

Urban Ospreys

I decided to revisit this week and I’m glad I did. It’s a wonderful place to observe this family from 40 – 50 feet away. Since the birds are used to traffic and people, you can watch them without stressing them at all. An ambulance even went by with its siren going and Mom just calmly watched it.

As a bonus, I met another photographer there. Turns out we have a lot in common: While we shot, we talked about birds, locations, cameras, lenses, and grandkids! A marvelous, mini photo excursion!

Click on each photo to see a larger version on Flickr. And follow this link to see more images I made in Winter Park: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157636838442164

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Urban Ospreys

May 5, 2018Winter Parkbirds, black and white, infrared, landscape, Osprey, panorama, wildlifeEd Rosack

Sometimes you can get amazing photos of wild birds inside Florida cities. Winter Park (and other places too) put up nest boxes around town to attract birds. Ospreys typically use them in the spring to raise their young.

Urban Ospreys 3

I met Kathy B. (www.flickr.com/photos/kbargar/) through the Orlando Camera Club and we’ve run across each other on photo shoots. I saw her photos of this nest on Flickr and when I commented on how nice they were she was kind enough to share the location with me.

Urban Ospreys 1 – The young one’s stretching it’s wings. Mom looks a little wary – like she’s making sure she doesn’t get knocked out of the nest!

If you’re close enough to zoom in and fill the frame, and you can pick a vantage point that has foliage in the background – you can get some swell, natural looking photos of wild birds. There’s no way to tell from these first two that the nest is located downtown. Here’s a wider shot: The nest is on top of a utility pole and 40 – 50 feet away from the upper floor of a very convenient parking garage.

Osprey nest box in downtown Winter Park

I wrote about this once before back in 2011 (https://edrosack.com/2011/06/12/ballpark-ospreys/) but I think it’s worth pointing out again. Be on the lookout!

When I first arrived, the chick was asleep and hidden, so I went to the other side of the garage and made this photo while I waited for it to wake up.

The track through Winter Park

And this crow was checking me out while I waited too. I think it was expecting a handout.

Close Crow

Anyway, I’m glad this didn’t turn into another “empty nest syndrome” like our expedition a couple of weeks ago. And by the way, Tom M. checked and the eagles were back in that nest the week after we went, so they must have just been away while we were there.

I really like my close up photos. I think they’re the best ones I’ve gotten of nesting Ospreys.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. Now – go make some photos!

Mead Gardens, 14 April 2018

April 14, 2018Downtown Orlando, Mead GardensEd Rosack

Kevin M. and I had a nice stroll ’round Mead Botanical Gardens in Winter Park this morning. Here are a few of the things we saw.

Are you looking at me?? Marsh Rabbit
Are you looking at me too?? Black and White Warbler

Wood Duck – These are usually at Mead Gardens, but we didn’t find them this morning. This photo is from a 2012 trip.

Across the pond – 3 frame, monochrome IR panorama

The Spring bird migration is underway here, and although there weren’t as many warblers at Mead as we expected it was still a very nice walk.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. Now – go make some photos!

Central Florida Photo Ops

What and where they are and how to photograph them.

Category Archives: Winter Park

Winter Park Ospreys – April 8, 2024

Busy Birds

Mead Gardens (3-29-22)

A Stroll in the Dark

Another baby bird update

Lake Cherokee Mute Swans

Lake Davis Mute Swans

Winter Park Ospreys

Bonus baby birds

Memorial Day

Baby Bird Brief

Winter Park Osprey Nest

Winter Park Ospreys

Urban Ospreys

Mead Gardens, 14 April 2018